The Final Buzzer (27/7/12) – Credit where credit’s due, and other Finals thoughts

I guess it’s about time the Final Buzzer made it‘s glorious return to WPW. After all, the NBA season has just finished in a glorious fashion. And what a season it has been. From the lockout to marquee players changing teams to LeBron James finally winning his first NBA championship, this shortened season was just as exciting as a full one! But while every aspect of the NBA season could be discussed (only 16 more weeks until the new season starts), it’s the NBA Finals that deserve a write up as only yours truly can provide!

First of all, congratulations are in order to the Miami Heat, who captured their 2nd NBA Championship in franchise history and their first championship in the ‘Big 3’ era. And they were splendid. Well not all of them. Dwyane Wade played below his standards but still provided some impressive finals moments. Has he mastered the eurostep more than Manu? If so, should it be recalled the americanstep? That doesn’t have as nice a ring to it though…Now don’t get me wrong, Wade was still instrumental in the Heat winning, he just wasn’t required to go supernova in order for the Heat to accomplish their goal. Yes his knee was injured (rumoured to have been drained during the Pacers series) and he has slipped off a bit athletically, but none of that matter. Why?

LeBron. Fucking. James.

3x NBA MVP. NBA Finals MVP. NBA Champion.

LeBron was simply at another level during the 2012 playoffs

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I am not the biggest fan of LeBron. First of all, the made was created to play basketball. Plain and simple. There has never been a player with the combination of size, speed and court awareness that LeBron possesses. Not Jordan, not Bird, not Magic, not Kobe. There just isn’t. Sure there were criticisms about the way he wasn’t considered clutch and the way he handled ‘The Decision’. All valid. But it cannot be understated just how amazing the man was in the playoffs and the finals. I cannot explain just how much it hurts me both physically and emotionally to write all this praise for LeBron. But he’s definitely earned it. Ugh.

When he declared that the Heat could win “Not one, not two, not three…” we all laughed and dismissed the thought. Now after the 2012 playoffs, we might be led to believe that it could come true…(probably not “not seven, not eight”…could they? Come on Kobe, recruit DWill and Dwight fast!) (Yus, just got my mandatory Kobe mention in. Haha take that LeBron! Only four more rings until you’re relevant!)

But seriously back to LeBron, the man averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the finals. That hasn’t been accomplished in the modern era…MODERN ERA! Incredible.

He recorded a 45 point, 15 rebound game in an elimination game against the Celtics, in Boston and is considered one of the best playoff performances of all time. Crazy.

He records a triple double in the Heat’s game 5 close out victory with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists. Ridiculous. It should also be noted that triple double was LeBron’s first in the season and kept alive his streak where he has recorded as least one triple double in every season he’s played in. He’s played NINE SEASONS!

I’m not jumping on the bandwagon, but I’m not still hating on him. I’m just appreciating his talent and the amazing NBA finals performance. Beyond whether you like him or not, you have to admire the way he played this post season.

But he doesn’t deserve all the praise. The Heat’s supporting cast stepped up big time. Whether it was the other members of the big two with Wade and Bosh playing at an All Star Level when they needed to. Wade had an interesting playoffs. He wasn’t his usual explosive self (which he may never be again due to age) and had his knee drained during the Heat-Pacers series. He was solid during the Finals was overshadowed by LeBron’s amazing play. It seemed as if his knee injury settled the ‘who’s team is it?’ debate. Which was probably a blessing in disguise. Bill Simmons called Wade a ‘glorified sidekick’. And he’s right.

Bosh was also outstanding both on and off the court. After he went down injured early in the playoffs, it became evident just how important he was to the Heat and was no longer just a laughing stock because he looks like a dinosaur. He then returned against the Celtics and changed that series hitting a career high three 3 pointers helping the Heat beat Boston in the process. THEN, he anchors the Heat’s defense against the Thunder in the Finals. Read that again. HE ANCHORED THE HEAT’S DEFENSE IN THE NBA FINALS. WTF?!?!?!?!?!?

But better than that, he was hilarious after the Heat won title. Just watch this:

I just love how he just walked into frame and pours an entire bottle of champagne on himself! And the video commentary questioning Bosh’s sexuality is the icing on the celebration cake! Don’t worry Bosh, you’re an NBA Champion now and they can’t do anything about that! By the way, have you seen Bosh’s NBA championship ring?

Chris Bosh’s NBA Championship Ring…

And what about Shane Battier suddenly shooting 3’s like he was pissing into the ocean, or Mike Miller having the ability to just run up and down the court, let alone hit SEVEN 3’s off the bench in game 5 (a finals record). By the way, doesn’t Mike Miller just have the most random tattoos?

Mike Miller’s tattoo look just as out of place as he does as a basketball player

They look like Aztec tribal tattoos, which I guess would look normal if they didn’t look like they were drawn on by a bored Japanese girl with a felt pen. And the location is weird too. On the front of his shoulders. It’s as if the tattooist made a mistake and instead of putting them on his should the guy put them in in front of them! Still though, it’s not as weird as Reggie Miller’s tattoo:

Reggie Miller’s pornstar tattoo

Isn’t that a tattoo that only pornstars get?

Speaking of tattoos, did you know Kevin Durant is covered in them?

Who would’ve thought?!

Now it should be stated that Kevin Durant was very impressive in his NBA Finals debut. Unfortunately, LeBron played better and the Heat won. His time will come though, the man’s only 23! He’s led the league 3 years in a row. I’m 21 and have been at university for 3 years. It’s nice to know our life paths are basically the same. Experience most definitely played a factor during these finals, not just from the players, but also from the coaches. Scotty Brooks stuck to his rotation too stubbornly and played Derek Fisher too much. I should know. I’m a Lakers fan. It didn’t help that James Harden was replaced by a homeless guy with a beard and basically no showed after providing a scoring punch that was so desperately missed during the Finals. I guess he was just tired from guarding LeBron. The Thunder face an interesting decision in the next couple of years about whether they can sign both Serge Ibaka and James Harden, or if they have to choose one over the other (but that’s for another day).

Westbrook was outstanding in game 4 scoring 45 points, but was pretty average in the other games. People are saying he took too many shots but they were a necessary evil. If he didn’t shoot, the Heat would’ve just crowded Durant and it would’ve been Durant forcing up the bad shots (although his shots never seem that bad of a choice). Still, the friction between Westbrook and Durant has disappeared as Westbrook seemed to finally realise that Durant was the best player on the floor which resulted in some Durant 4th quarter scoring explosions. Finals loss aside, the Thunder were pretty good. They beat the defending champions Mavericks in the first round, beat the Lakers in the second round (ugh) and came from two games down to beat the Spurs. They are the last 10 Western Conference Champs! If they had beaten the Heat, they would’ve beaten the last 7 NBA Champions on their way to the championship…but they didn’t. So it doesn’t matter…what a waste of a paragraph!

Despite the final series score only being 4-1, it still felt epic. Do I wish the series went 7? Of course I do! All the games (except for game 5) were closely decided and this could very well be a finals match up for many years to come! The Thunder are only going to learn from this and get better (provided they can keep their team together), and LeBron and company will strive to stay on top of the mountain for as long as possible. Whatever happens though, you can bet it’s going to be damn interesting to watch!

So the NBA season is officially in the books and now everyone’s Gone Fishin’:

The NBA season is over after almost not having a season at all

But don’t worry, only 16 more weeks until it starts all over again, with the Olympics and the NBA draft and the Free Agency season just around the corner…God I love the NBA!

Oh I also have Twitter now! Follow me @tomo_yee for my facebook status’ that aren’t good enough for facebook!